Wilson stopped as the male twin stood directly before him. The male twin was actively transforming in body shape. He slowly increased in size, becoming bulkier and more jacked. He stopped growing when he reached seven feet and six inches in height. The old man had completely transformed from an old man who was barely six feet in height and had white, receding hair to a hunk who was fitter, taller and bulkier with long and rich, black hair. The wrinkles were nowhere to be found. If anything, he kind of resembled the big guy with the baby face. Were they related? Possible. But Wilson did not think about any of that. He was blinded by rage and desperation. A devastating combo.
Old man Jenkins knew sh*t had already hit the fan. The boy was dead for sure and it would be his fault because he had refused to teach or train him.
'Or maybe not. If I delay the elders, the boy should be able to find a way out of here.' Old man Jenkins thought to himself. He rapidly stood up. His body slowly turned green.
"Sit down, Jenkins!" Baldy said. He stood up and quickly ran in front of Old man Jenkins, blocking him from taking another step.
"We both know you cannot stop me alone, so just move aside." Old man Jenkins said.
"Who said he was alone?" the young old lady asked from behind Jenkins.
Old man Jenkins looked behind him and saw that the elders were all standing and staring at him. In a single second, the female twin had appeared beside Baldy. The old cane lady stood by Old man Jenkins' right side and the youngest looking oldie stood on the table by his left.
"Don't be difficult. We both know why the boy has to die." The female twin said.
"He does not have to die." Old man Jenkins argued.
"Yes, he does. He is a liability." Baldy argued.
"He is an asset." Old man Jenkins argued back.
"What do you see in him anyway?" the female twin questioned.
"Potential! Lots of it!"
"More reason why he should be put down while it is still possible." Baldy said.
"The boy is too unstable. He can't be controlled." The old cane lady said.
"is that not the point of Baldy's project?" Old man Jenkins questioned.
"That is the thing. He is resisting. His body system is actively fighting and even neutralizing the spell. We are losing more and more control of him. Just like last time." Baldy explained.
"And that is why he has to be killed?"
"I would actually prefer the word 'eliminated', if you don't mind." The male twin chipped in, even as he maintained his staredown with Wilson.
"Does it make a difference? You still just want the boy dead, all because of his body's resistance. Have you guys forgotten why we chose to consider him in the first place? It is because his hatred for the nobles is as deep seated as ours. Is that not enough to avoid killing him?" Old man Jenkins asked as he looked around him at the elders surrounding him.
They said nothing for two minutes or so. Old man Jenkins remained quiet as well. He could see that they were beginning to reconsider, or so he thought.
"Grand Elder?" Baldy suddenly called out to the old cane lady, his eyes still closely watching Old man Jenkins.
"You all feel it too, right?" the old cane lady asked. Baldy nodded. The female twin frowned. The young old lady replied with a pitiful shake of her head and the male twin yelled a yes.
Old man Jenkins, on the other hand felt a slight headache and was confused. Was this what they were feeling too? This truly did not make sense. Were they under attack? This was quite the timing, no?
"Do you oldies also feel a slight headache?" Old man Jenkins asked.
All he got as a reply was Baldy's chuckle. His eyes flashed with a deadly glint. Small pieces of paper began to appear in his palms. Old man Jenkins was confused. Did he not just make a convincing point? Why was Baldy bringing out various types of talismans. Things were suddenly not seeming to go the way he expected them to go after his supposedly convincing speech. He quickly glanced around. The Old cane lady had broken her cane into two. They had now become two metallic rods with sharp points that seemed to bleed with the red paint at its tip. The youngest looking old lady had pulled out a strand of white hair. The strand of white hair immediately changed to a thin long rope that sparkled with electricity. As for the female twin, she was vibrating so much, she was now an almost transparent blur.
When Wilson noticed it, he immediately thought back to the blur at the training room who harassed him at the training room the previous night.
'Are they also related?' Wilson thought to himself. He remembered what Old man Jenkins had jokingly said to him back at the carriage. Wilson's rage cooled down a little. He quickly thought it through.
The old man had told Wilson that Wilson and all the oldies had something in common. They had no family left because of the nobles. The nobles had ruined and killed everyone and then had framed attempted to kill them to cover up. Wilson had thought the old man was joking. But what if it was true? Or what if it was not but the old man actually believed it?
"Old man Jenkins! They were lying to you all this while!" Wilson did not really know why he thought so, but he said it out loud all the same.
As soon as Wilson spoke, Old man Jenkins' headache grew intensely and suddenly disappeared. His originally dull eyes became less dull. He seemed to have been suddenly enlightened. All his confusion began to set itself in place. He finally began to understand everything that had always confused him.
His rage began to rise. These f*ckers had been f*cking with him all this while. He was being played and he did not realize it. His forgotten memories came back to him in fragments.
They had taken advantage of him in his time of weakness. They were not even friends before like he believed. They were strangers that approached him after the noble family he offended wiped out his entire family, save for his granddaughter, Alice.
'Thinking about Alice.....' Old man Jenkins eyes widened.
"You f*ckers! What did you do with my granddaughter?" Old man Jenkins yelled at them, deep green mist flowed out of his skin very quickly. The oldies all stepped back. The green mist was highly corrosive. The youngest looking lady looked at the old cane lady who nodded back at her. The young old lady immediately sent out a telepathic message to a specific set of people.
'It is confirmed! Eliminate Jenkins and the boy!'
Ten or so number of people suddenly appeared from the walls and split themselves in half. One side joined the bulky oldie-turned-young and the other half joined the oldies facing against old man Jenkins.
Baldy threw two talismans at old man Jenkins. They both disintegrated as soon as they touched the green mist that had surrounded old man Jenkins. A white mist suddenly appeared out of nowhere and neutralized the mist in the surroundings, making old man Jenkins visible. He was all green from head to toe. Even his clothes had turned a special shade of green. The oldies and their five extra henchmen immediately attacked viciously.
***********
Somewhere in Forest City, Ruthless looked around at his men and women fighters. Some were old, some were young, some middle aged. Some wore uniforms and stood together in large numbers to signify that they were a group, some stood alone or in twos and threes. Ruthless looked at his swordsman and at that moment, two talismans appeared in midair and burst to reveal a message. The message read;
'There could never have been a better time. It is best you make a move now.'
Ruthless chuckled at the sender's choice of words.
"Let's go!" He said and immediately a portal appeared a meter away. Two minutes later, the portal was ready and Ruthless jumped in first, closely followed by his right hand swordsman.
The other fighters howled and yelled in excitement and rushed into the portal, even pushing on another in the rush. Ruthless had already promised them. If they did a satisfactory job, they will be well rewarded and also, whatever treasure they came across was theirs. So, they pushed and shoved in a hurry to get through the portal first and begin the slaughter. The more they killed, the more they were rewarded, not to mention they were hostile people who loved violence to begin with, but had to act tame for the past one and a half weeks. Now, it was time. They were obviously excited.
'Let the fun games begin!' The last person yelled as he jumped into the purple-black wormhole-like portal with a nasty chuckle.